BY BEN AMES, SENIOR EDITOR
AUTO ID
RECENT LEAPS IN TECHNOLOGY HAVE PUSHED
prices for image-based code readers down in the last
18 months, making them price-competitive with laser
scanners and expanding opportunities for data collection throughout the supply chain.
Logistics managers can eliminate inefficiencies if
they take advantage of these price reductions to
upgrade to two-dimensional (2-D) image-based technology from one-dimensional (1-D) data capture
devices such as laser bar-code scanners, industry
experts say. For instance, mounting cameras instead
of lasers to conveyors will enable DC associates to
examine the entire package—rather than just the bar
code—as shipments flow past an inspection point. The
ability to analyze that flood of new information can
help ensure customer satisfaction and improve vendor compliance, reduce shipping costs, and minimize
chargeback fees from supply chain partners.
“Laser scanners are equipped only for one dimension, but camera-based imagers can do much more,”
said Richa Gupta, a senior analyst for auto ID and data
capture with VDC Research, a supply chain analyst
firm in Natick, Mass.
“They are not restricted to a certain type of sym-
bology; they can take images of the product itself, as
well as getting information off the bar code and seeing
information imprinted on the package,” Gupta said.
“There is no limit to the amount of information they
can capture. That is the biggest value proposition.”
The market has taken notice and pushed global sales
of camera-based 2-D readers from $312 million in
2013 to an estimated $338 million in 2014 and $475
million in 2018, according to market research from
VDC.
The predicted 8.9-percent rise in sales of image-
based readers between 2014 and 2018 comes in sharp
contrast to a forecast
3.1-percent decline for laser
scanner sales over the same period, VDC
says. Global sales of 1-D bar-code readers—including
laser scanners and linear imagers—are projected to
slump from $244 million in 2013 to $236 million in
2014 and just $208 million in 2018.
BAR CODES STILL A CRUCIAL INGREDIENT
To be sure, bar codes aren’t going away. Industries in
nearly every vertical category rely on the zebra-striped
codes to keep up with the ever-increasing pace and
complexity of inventory flow through warehouses and
fulfillment centers and on to retail stores.
In past years, laser scanners were the technology
of choice for that application, as they were the only
devices with sufficient speed and depth of field to
quickly and accurately read bar codes on packages as
they sped past fixed points on fast-moving conveyors.
But thanks to recent technology advances in processing power, digital image sensors, and onboard memory storage, image-based readers are finally catching up.
technologyreview
Falling camera prices trigger a shakeup in the auto ID world, with the old
1-D laser bar-code readers giving way to sophisticated image-based scanners.
Scanners get a
new image
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